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Sweet Corn Muffins

Back in the day, I used to think Famous Dave’s was the best barbeque around. Honestly.

During a trip to Dallas when I was 17, I did actually have real barbeque for the first time. The brisket was really, really good. But then I came back to Wisconsin and there weren’t many options. Except Famous Dave’s. Time passed, and I forgot how amazing true barbeque could be.

Until last summer when a Fourth of July roadtrip to St. Louis allowed us to sample the heavenly food prepared at Pappy’s Smokehouse. Everything there is mind-blowing. And it had better be, because more than likely you’ll wait at least an hour in a line stretched to the back parking lot just to place your order. I was blessed to return this spring to eat more brisket. In the words of my friend’s cousin: “this [deep-fried] corn is life-changing.” And that’s just the corn! In between those trips, Ali and I (and Chris, who was one of the original road-trippers) had a meal at Famous Dave’s. It was one of the saddest meals of my life. Adequate was about all you could say for their brisket.

Famous Dave’s does have one saving grace. Well, two maybe. It has been the site of a few rather memorable meals over the years including a post-Badger football game dinner in Madison where my father drunkenly snuck his half-finished pint of beer out of the restaurant in his coat sleeve. Seven years later, all present still remember [most of] the night vividly. Anyways…that saving grace. Drumroll please…the corn muffins.

Though I’m a bit of a nutritional nag, I have a weakness for corn muffins (and ice cream, but who doesn’t have that weakness?). Sure, there’s nothing good in them for you. But they taste so damn good. And Famous Dave’s ARE the best. Pappy’s doesn’t serve cornbread (or if they do, I haven’t sampled it), but even if they did I’m not sure they could beat Dave’s. I like my cornbread sweet and sticky and dense and moist. And frankly, most of those Jiffy-type mixes you can get at the store (or even the recipes on the side of the corn meal canisters) don’t produce anything close to what I like.

A few of you will be able to vouch for me when I say we once called in a to-go order solely for corn muffins. Two dozen of them. Such a good memory, though I cringe to think about the hundreds of calories I shoveled down my throat in the ten minutes after we brought our steaming tray of goodies home. In the years since, I’ve tried multiple recipes but nothing came close to duplicating Famous Dave’s until this one. And it’s so simple!

So, the next time you need a delicious side-dish and don’t care about nutritional value, I highly suggest these sweet corn muffins. Best part? They’re even better the next day 🙂 All that sugar just gets nice and gooey. I love it.

Mix the following dry ingredients:

1.5 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

To this add:

2 eggs

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk (skim works fine)

Beat one minute, then add an additional 1/2 cup of milk and beat JUST until blended.

Fill paper muffin cups 1/2-3/4 full and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until golden. This recipe makes between 12-18 muffins depending on how large your muffin tins are and how full you fill the cups.

Oh, and heads up: another awesome cupcake recipe is coming your way. My mom turns 51 on Friday, so we picked out another Brown Eyed Baker recipe to try. A few of you already know what’s up. To the rest of you, a hint: I need to find some Jameson in the next two days 😉